thorbus



C. T. THORBUS GRAIN SEPARATOR Filed J1me 12. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 10, 192& 1,665,756

. c. 1'. THORBUS GRAIN SEPARATOR Filed June 12. 1924 2 sheets-sheet 2 I I v 22 JZ I Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE.

CLARENCE T.

GRAIN SEEARATOR GOL OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

GRAIN sErAnA'ron.

Application filed June 12, 1924. SeriatNo. 719,522.

and similar places where the separation of wheat from oats and other,comnungled torcignmaterials, such as chaifi, small seeds and dust. i

A. machine embodying the various novel features of my invention. is illustrated in the acconi iianylng drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the sev eral views. q Referring to the drawings:

Fig.1 is a vertical section taken centrally from front to rear of the improved machine;

Fig. 2 a fragmentary horizontal section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a tragnuantary horizontal section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4; is a detail in right side elevation showing means for adjusting and holding one of the machine. i

All of the parts of the niachinearc supported directly or indirectly on a strong l'n'accd skeleton framework 4:, which. at its upper portion, rigidly supports a hood struc- .ture 5 and at one side su 'iports anclevator leg 6. in which latter the usual endless elevator belt isarranged to Work and tojbe driven in the well known or any suitable manner, not necessary for the purposes of this case to consider.

VVit-hin the fixed hood 5 are certain devices of well known construction and which may be briefly notedas follows: Located centrally in said hood is a settling chamber terinieating at its bottom in a trough 8 shown .4. I

as equipped nnh a. Feed sciew 8 that delivcrs the 11gb t screenings or dust out of the within the upper portion of the settling vchamber 7 are staggered baffle plates 7 and 7. The settling chamber 7 has an inlet passage 9 and an outlet passage 10. i

The wheat, oats and other commingled suction-regulating valves of the The flow ofair through the air intake pas- 9 is controlled by a feed suction regulanaterials will be fed in the customary way into a receiving hopperll equipped with a master gate 12 that controls the flowof mate- .rialto a feed passage 13 shown as equipped \Vlthtlle customary 'feed roller 14L and 'autolnaticfeed gate" 15. Theair inlet passage 9 to the settling chamber 7 extends downto the lower portion of the feed passage 13, so

that the dust may be readily drawn from the .con'nningled mass. I

Inthe rear portionof the hood 5 '18 a transversely extended air chamber 16 in which is interposed a fan casing 17 that is open at both sides and is provided with a discharge spout 18, which, in practice, will. be connected. to a dust house or other suitable point of discharge that will carry the dust .out of the room in which the separator is installed. Working in the fan casing 17 is a fan head 19 secured to a long transverse shaft 20 .journaledyi'n suitable bearings on the. frame 4: and provided with a pulley 21 .(see Fig. 3), adapting-thefan to be. driven through a'. power-driven belt, not shown.

By the fan casing 17 the air chamber 16 is divided into two parts and these two parts are provided with large lower air intake passages 22. i It will nowbe noted that there are two sources of air supply to the fan 19, to wit, through the air intake passage?) and throughthe divided air intake passage 22.

. as independently connected to rock shafts 25 having levers 26 equipped with pins 27 migageable with holes 28 and large. arches 29 rigidly secured to the sides of the hood, so that the two valves 24: are capable of independent.adjustments. For adjusting the valve 23. a construction similar to that just described may be employed. machine through one side of the hood, and;

Mounted below the hood 5 is an upper vibratory shoe 30 and mounted below said shoe 30 is a lower vibratory shoe 31. These two shoescarry sieves and various other devices THORBUS, OF MINNEAFOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO 'RICHARDSOIH able "means, but, for the purposes of this "common practice, theyare connected for si' multaneous movements inreverse directions, so that they are counterbalanced, one against the other.

The upper shoe carries the following elements, to wit: the "c'ommingled material falling from the feed passage 13 is received by an "inclined imperfora'te 'deckBQ that delivers to a coarse 'scalping sieve 33, which, in turn, delivers to a transversely inclined discharge spout 34. The 'material passing T5 throughthe screen'33 TallSOXitO an inclined *imperforate deck that "delivers to'the top member of apgang of sieves 36, thelower member36f of which is considerably shorter "than the other members of "the gang,fand at its lower end terminatesconsiderably "forward of the rearenddt' the next lowermost "sieve of the gang. Justrearwa'rd of the deck 32, the 'shoe'30 is provided'with a repe'at spout 37 that delivers to a repeat "spreader 38, "which latter -delivers onto the imper'torate deck '35. The said parts 82to '38, inclusive, are relatively fixed in respect "toeac'h other and in respect 'to the shoe 30, so thatthey all partake ofthe 'commonvibratory movementsoffthe latter.

The hood 5 is provided witha transverselyoblique repeat'spout 39 that receives'the material fromtheelevatoriegt and delivers the same'tothe "repeat spent 37 of the upper shoe.

The lower shoe 31 carries the following elements, to wit: Thenumeral '40 indicates an inclined imper'forate lower deck having; an upright rear endboard'41with anoblique upper portion "41. Above said'deck 40 are upperv and lower inclinedggrading screens 42 and 43. The inclined board 41 delivers to "the upper rear end of the upperscreen 42 and the screen 43"is'pro vided with an imper'forate inclined rear end extension "43. The upper extremities ofthe screens 42 and "'43 lie in a verticalplaneth atintersectsabout centrally the gang of sieves36. The deck 40 and sieves '42 and "43 discharge at the front endof the shoeBl.

At its rear portion, thezshoe 31 carries a forwardly inclined repeat screen 44, the "front portion of whichex'tends with ample learance under the imperforate ldeck extension43 o'fthe screen '43. "Said. screen '44, "atits lower end, delivers into aftransverse "repeatspout .45, which, atfoneen'd, delivers intothe lower portion of theelevator leg 6, through an opening "6' in the latter. A spiral conveyor '46 is preferably arranged to work in :the repeat spout'45 to facilita'te the discharge of the grain. fititsextreme rear end, beyond the repeat screen 44, the shoe 3 1 has an oat discharge spout 47 through which all of the oatsthat are delivered oil neee ee from the lower "ends of the gang of sieves 36 inclined imperforate deck 48 that terminates in a med-discharge spout 49. The numerals 50 and 51 indicate a-uton'iatic interinediately ipi voted ln'ushes arranged to work below the sieves or screens 43 and 44.

Located above the repeat screen 44 is a rearwardly inclined repeat board of novel construction "and arrangement. As shown and as preferably designed, this repeat board "board 52 and a relatively lon; adjustable repeat'board 53, the board 52 being rigidly involves a relatively short repeat secured at its endstothe'sides of the shoe3l andthe plate 53 be1ng slidably adjustable in suitable guideways 54011 the sides 'ot said shoe. For adjusting the repeat board 53, it

is shown as provided with rack teeth 55 that are engaged by a spur pinion 56 carried by a shaft 57 'journaled in the sides of the shoe and arranged to'be rotatednnd secured by any suitable means. It 15 lmportant to note that when the repea'tboard is adjusted forward as'far as it will go, 1t engages with arrangement and the functions resulting therefrom will be further considered a little later on.

"Ri'gidly supported by 'the machine frame 4, between the front end portions of the two vibratory shoes 30 and 3-1 is a blast lan arranged to dellver a blast of air rearward under and upward through the gang of sieves 36. This blast fan may take various forms,but for the purposes of this case, it is onlynecessaryto note the fan case 58 and a fan head 59 rotatable within said case and carried by a shaftGO journaled in suitable bearings on the front side portions of the frame The fan case 58 is open at its rear side for the discharge of a blast of air in a rearward direction between the gang of sieves 36 andthe underlying sieve 42, board 41, and repeat board 5354.

Operation. The commingled stock in the feed hopper '11 may be assumed to'be made up of: wheat.

oats, rye, small seeds, chaff and dust, all of 'which,of course, will be fed downward by the .ifeed roller l4uand passed through the air that is drawn by the fan 19 upward through the air passage 9. The air draft will besoregulated that only the liojht dust will be drawn olf from the stock at this point and the other materials will drop onto the 'scalpingsieve "83 and'all of thesematcrials will pass through said scalping sieve,

except the shall, which latterwill he discharged into the spout 18. Said materials, passing through the sieve 33, will be de- Small seeds will pass through the several sievesof the gang before they are advanced rearward beyond the upper edge of the defleeting board 41 and, hence, will he de livered onto the upper screen 4-2, but the oats, rye, and some of the wheat will pa s farther rearward on the sieves of the gang The largest of the wheat will be discharged. oil from the lower end of the grading sieve 42, but the smaller wheat and the sn'iull seeds will pass through the sieve 4L and onto the lower grading sieve 43, which latter "machine through the spout l'l', but some of the Wheat, mixed with oatsor rye or both and soine srnallseeds, Wlll pass through, the

lower portions ofthe of sieves and ill ill

with the repeat board 53 adjusted as shown in Fig. 1, will be direetedhnto the repeat screen. The small seeds will pass through said repeatsereen and'will be discharged from the machine through the spout 49, hut the coinmingled wheat, oats and ryewill he delivered to the repeat spent and by the conveyor 46, will he delivered into the receiving portion of the elevator 'leg 6 through the inlet port 6. All of this repeat stock delivered to the ele ator will. by the elevatorl he delivered to the repeat spout 39 and, by the latter. will. he delivered onto the deck 35 where it will beconiminggled with the main stock running; to the gang.

With the extreme adjustment of the repeat hoard53 shown in Fig. 1, no part of the stock falling: from the gang rearward of the upper edge of the deflectingboard 4-1 will he delivered directly to either one of the grading sieves l2-4l3. Theahowever directly to the lower gradine; screen 43, hv

which the small seeds will beseparated from the wheat. The adjustment of the repeat board will depend upon the character of the separation that is being produced by the inachine The adjustment of said repeat board should be such that all of the oats ialling frorn the gang willbe delivered either outosaid repeat'hoard or oil from the lower end oft theigang. -i l hen the machine is operating: as just stated. there will be some wheat carried with the oats ontothe repeat board and, hence, the necessity for returning such connningled' portion of wheat and oats or wheat and oats and rye. hack tion of the stock that is delivered rearward of the deflecting; board ll, but which contains no oats or rye but some, small seeds, need not he returned to the gang but the separation may be completed by the sieve 43 and hence. the adjustment of the repeat board 53 should he such as to throw such portion of the stock onto the screen exten sion 43. Obviously, the repeat boardarranged as described may he set it'orall conditions. It may, asal'ready stated, he set that all of the toek not delivered onto the upper grading sieve 42,and which not, as is the clean oats and rye, carried oil from the lower end of the sieve gang", will he do livered to the repeat sereen ortrepeat device for return to the sieve gang or for recon'mihurling with the main stock passing to the machine, From the above noted EX? treine position, the repeat board, may be adjusted by infinitesimal steps so as to open up a large passage for delivering stock pre-- cipitated through the rane onto the extension of the lower grading screen. The ad justable repeat hoard and repeat device described is especially adapted -tor use in connection with i'naehines liuiviiig upper and lower grading screens, sometimes designated as a double-seed screein hutis not limited to that particularuse;

As is well known, a fan of a given sis-c running; at a certain speed will pull a eertain total amount ozt air andQwill take the greatest portion of that amount oit'airy'lroui the place affording the least resistance, Nith the arrangrenient o't tans above doseribedandillustrated in the drawings. the no fans have a very important relation to each other and the air intake passages 9 and a and their controlling); f valves or dampers and 24: have a very important relation to the said fans but more partieularlvto the suction tan lllg For instanrim' with both oi the valves and 24 wide opem there will he a greater flow of air to the tan l9 through the air intake passage than through the air intake passaeefi) heeauseo'f the greater ren'ioteneas and more ohstructed air travel from the passage 9 to saidfan than from the p agreQQ to said *lan. \Vith the valve 23 wide open the proportionate amount of air drawnup throumi the grain llti to the air passage 9 maybe increased by closing of the valve 9A so as to choke off more or less of the passage oi? air upward through the air passageQiZ. Byadjustments of the two valvesfitl :l 2 the proportionate amount o't air drawn in throu h i'll(3't\\"() passages 9 and may be varied mall sorts of ways, so as to get, among; otherithings, just the right arr i upward through the material p:

om the teed roller 19 to carry oifi' the u light particles, such as so eenings, without carrying olt' any-olf the grain or at ieas't without carrying any of the good wheat. liven without the valve 23, and solely by t; I adjustment Oi the valve 24, most ot the adjustments above indicated orrequired may, however, be produced. come "he current of air drawn in t passage 9 and through the so should be strong); enough to c p 7 It dust to the fan 19 but weal; enough to 1 rent pie cipitation of the heavier such as screenings, into the tro lit is also a well known i a; in cleaners and separatorshaving un blast fans dclivering strong currents ot air through the grain passing through the gang; su )5, the blast of '2111, serving); to stra ghten out the oats and barley'and permitting tllfilll to tail =over the gang sieves. is born c to carry a considerable amount o i dust air, which is usually thrown out into the room, making a very dusty and dirty condition. in this improved lnachine,however, such cuistdaden air is drawn i'ipward and through the air passage 22 to thesuetion'tan 19,, thus maliingthe machine dustless. Hence, working as above described, the suction ian 19 naturally seeks to get its first air from the tailings of thesieve gang}; and thus to pick up the dusty air 'fI'Olll the ang, and, second, gets the remaining portion o1 its air from the point of greater air resistance, to wit, the air passage 9, which draws the air up ward through the comu'iingled stock that is being delivered to the scalping; sieve The fan or blower 59 would tend to producc, within the machine, air PlOSSlUTG considerably in excess oi? atn'iospheric pressure. it it were not tor the suction or partial vacuumproducing aeti on of the suction Fan 19 and the arrangement whereby the latter tan sucks or pulls the blast, utter it has loosened up and performed its required actions on the grain on the gang sieves.

'Fhe lower gang; sieve S6 is what m: designated as flooding sieve. portant to note that this lower ii, which is much shorter than any o no upper sflves of the gang, may be easily Flooded by loading the upper gang sieves so that it will deliver the product, passing over the end thereof, into the repeat grain. It is a well known fact that, by loading a sieve heavilyyor, in other words, flooding it?, the lighter materials, such as "oats and barley, will be caused to come to the-top,:while the heavier materials, such :as wheat, will more readily pass through the meshesrofthe sieves, and thus it is possible to ;,get the wheat perfectly clean o'toat-s'and to rapidly carry oil the said lighter materials,*thus obtainlng very high capacity and ethclenoy.

The lighter materials, suchas .oatsand =bari ley, having commingled therewith some wheat, with the repeat grain, will be adelivered to the elevator and tromthenceibaok to the macbineior vfurther cleaning.

Vi hatl claim is:

i. In a separator'ot thehind described, the combination withaggang oi vibrator-y sieves, of upper and lower grading screens below said gang, a repeat soreenunderlying said gang of sieves, and .an adjustable repeat board. between said .u'an of sieves and said repeat screen, operative to vary "the extent oi the delivery to said upper and :lower grading screens. otinateria l passed (through said gang, said lower ,grading screen havin on imperforate 'receivin-g sectiolrextended under said adjustable repeat board,

In a separator ot the kind described,

the combination with a gang of vibratory s-iieres-aiu'l means for delivering'commingled material thereto, of a grading seed vscreen, a portion of whichunderliestln torward portions of said gang;sieves arepeat screenunderlying the rear portions of said -gang sieves, means tor-delivering therepeat material from said repeat-sievebackttosaidggangr of sieves, and an adjustable repeatboard underlying said gang and overlying and delivering to said repeat screen, said repeat board bemg'adjusta-ble intotoneiextreme position 1n whlch it delivers to said irepeat which said repeattboard is adjustable from its extreme positionstated, by infinitesimally small adjustments into ran opposite extreme position, and in whichthe-g-ang of sieves-delivers oats, barley andilike rearward ofsaid repeat screen and fixed repeat board.

6. In separator of the hind described, the oombinationwith (a .gangtof vibratory sieves and means 2for iieeding =commingled -1naterial thereto, of upper and lower oombined grading and seed screens underlying and receiving from the front portions of said gang sieves, a repeat screen underlying the rear portions of said gang sieves, the lower of said combined grading and seed screens having a rearward extension overlying a portion of said repeat screen, and an adjustable repeat board located under the rear portions of said gang and overlying a portion of said repeat screen and a portion of the'rear extension of said lower combined grading and seed screen.

7. The structure defined in claim (3 in;

Whichsaid gang of sieves deliver oats, barley and the like rearward of said repeat board and repeat screen.

8. The structure defined in claim (3 III which said repeat board is adjustable to one extreme position in which it entirely cuts oil the delivery otniaterial from said gang to the rear extension of said lower combined grading and seed screen.

9. The structure defined in claim (3 in which said gang of sieves deliver oats, barley and the like rearward of said repeat board and repeat screen, said repeat board being adjustable to one position in which it entirely cuts off the delivery of material from said gang to the rear extension of said lower combined grading and seed screen.

10. In a separator of the kind described, a casing having front and rear air intake passages and an intermediate settling chamber, a suction fan arranged to draw air from said casing at a pointbetween said settling chamber and said rear intake passage,a gang of sieves operative below said casing and so ar' ranged that air will be drawn "from the delivery end ot the gang up and through the rear air intake passage of said casing, means for delivering commingled material through seed screen.

passes through said gang beyond said com:

bined grading and seed screen.

1.1.111 a separator of the kind described, a casing having front and rear air intake passages and an intermediate settling chamber, a suction fan arranged to draw air from said casing at a point between said settling chamber and said rear intake passage, a gang oi sieves operative below said casing and so arranged that air will be drawn from the delivery end of the gang and throughthe rear air intake passage of said casing, means for delivering con'nningled material through the a current oi? air drawn to said front air intake passage and from thence to said gang of sieves, upper and lower combined grading and seed screens underlying and receiving from the front portions of said gang sieves, a repeat screen underlying the rear portions of said gang sieves, the lower of said combined grading and seed screens having a rearward extension overlying a portion of said repeat screen, and an adjustable repeat board located under the rear portions of said gang, and overlying a portion of said repeat screen and a portion of the rear extension of said lower combined grading and In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CLARENCE T. THORBUS. 

